Think back to the World Cup in Qatar two years ago.
There, the FA and Harry Kane insisted that the England captain wear a rainbow armband in support of the LGBTQ+ community, after FIFA granted hosting rights to a country that criminalizes homosexuality.
Six other Western European countries would take the same position.
Until FIFA insisted that the captains who made this 'political' gesture be booked.
To the point where that gesture could have a sporting consequence – and therefore a more substantial meaning.
At this point the FA and their six allies all performed a late U-turn. They bottled it.
That's the problem with English football and its 'support' for the LGBTQ+ community.
They like to show support through signals with meaningless gestures. Meaningful gestures, not so much.
Two years later, the FA have gone down another rabbit hole with their absurd double standards by allowing Ipswich captain Sam Morsy – a practicing Muslim – not to wear a rainbow armband, while Crystal Palace skipper Marc Guehi – a devout Christian – became reprimanded for defacing his bracelet with the words “I love Jesus” and then “Jesus loves you.”
This is patent nonsense. It is discrimination wrapped in the excuse of a 'rules is rules' technique.
English football wanted to take a stand against the organization of the World Cup in Qatar.
But when it comes to Newcastle being funded by the Saudi regime – which subjugates women and criminalizes homosexuality – or the Abu Dhabi government funding Manchester City, she turns a blind eye.
When England defender Guehi – the son of a Christian minister – scored his first goal in Saturday's 1-1 draw against Newcastle, visiting captain Bruno Guimaraes dutifully wore his rainbow armband.
Yet the regime that is allowed to pay its wages clearly does not share the values that this bracelet supposedly represents.
On Tuesday, the vagaries of the fixture list pitted Guehi and Morsy, a British-born Egyptian international, against each other, highlighting the absurdity of one man not being allowed to wear an armband and another being warned to do so. to write. bracelet.
Then there is the case of Manchester United's Muslim defender Noussair Mazraoui refusing to wear a specially designed pre-match warm-up jacket during the club's Rainbow Laces match against Everton.
As a result, United decided that none of their players would wear the jackets so as not to disrupt team unity.
So United wanted to show support for LGBTQ+ rights – but only to the point where it became difficult for them.
There is a lot of work to do
Personally, I am grateful that I was not raised with any religion in my life and believe that any organized religion does more harm than good.
But I also recognize that Guehi, Morsy, Mazraoui and anyone else of religious faith has every right to practice their faith.
I also think the principle behind the rainbow campaign is a good principle.
That people should have the freedom to love whoever they want and not have to hide their sexuality.
In an increasingly secular society, most people agree with this basic statement.
Inclusivity should not be a dirty word. Gays have rightly felt excluded from participating in football and attending matches.
Sometimes it's pointless
The fact that there are still no openly 'out' gay footballers in the Premier League suggests that there is still a lot of work to be done.
But when campaigns are tarnished by absurdities such as the FA capitulation in Qatar and the double standards of Guehi and Morsy, they simply fuel the beliefs of intolerant people and are self-defeating.
They give credence to the idea that the FA is a fanatically 'woke' organisation, when that is not the case.
The FA, and English football in general, simply want to acknowledge everyone and everything all the time.
It is rare to attend an England match without a minute's silence. Which usually results in applause.
Often involving a recently deceased former England player or manager being offered silence in connection with the victims of a terrible war or natural disaster abroad. Makes it all pretty pointless.
The opposite of 'awakeness'
It also feels strange that there are around 100 soldiers on the pitch before every England match.
Even stranger when the opposition last month was the Republic of Ireland, whose people are understandably not keen on the sight of uniformed British squads.
This is actually the opposite of “wokeness” – whatever that means – and it is equally shocking.
Then there is Remembrance Day. I happen to wear a poppy – or, more often, I buy several and lose them all – as a personal sign of respect for family members who have fought and died, and an acknowledgment of my own good fortune that I did not have to suffer the same horrors as my grandfather and great-grandfather.
But football has taken Remembrance Day to extreme heights: as early as October, the Last Post was played and silence was observed.
And it also allows James McClean, an avowed supporter of IRA terrorism, to express his own views. Views that are repulsive to most of us.
Sign politics in football has become an ugly moral maze – underlined by the idiocy surrounding the treatment of Guehi and Morsy.
In an angry and divided nation, the only intelligent conclusion is that football should be a safe space – away from politics, religion, the military or any other matter.
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